Head of Architecture

The posting

Our vision is to give everyone the belief they can make their move. We aim to make moving simpler, by giving everyone the best place to turn to and return to for access to the tools, expertise, trust, and belief to make it happen.

We’re home to the UK’s largest choice of properties and are the go-to destination for millions of people planning their next move, reading the latest industry news, or just browsing what’s on the market.

Location: London (Hybrid)

Reporting to: Group Engineering Director

The role

As Head of Architecture at Rightmove, you'll shape our technology strategy and help turn our mission, "to give everyone the belief they can make their move", into a well-designed, scalable technology estate.

You'll guide how we evolve a broad set of systems, from in-house software to third-party solutions, within a modern, containerised, event-driven architecture. You will be at the forefront of Rightmove’s journey into AI as it transforms not just the software we build but the way we build it. It's a chance to influence the technical direction of the UK's leading property portal, with real impact on millions of home movers.

Key responsibilities

In your first year, you'll focus on:

• Setting architecture strategy - Build and drive a company-wide architecture strategy that supports our broader business goals.
• Enabling engineering teams - Work closely with the software engineering community so the strategy is understood and all 40+ teams can make good architectural decisions quickly, without unnecessary process or delay.
• Leading the architecture team - Manage and develop a team of seven architects who influence and advise on design across the organisation.
• Partnering with data - Support the data and analytics department so our data platform architecture aligns with the wider platform architecture.

Ongoing responsibilities also include:

• Overseeing a varied technology landscape of in-house software and third-party applications to create a cohesive ecosystem.
• Work with technology and product leaders to connect architecture decisions to business objectives.
• Influencing TCO by aligning architectural decisions with business outcomes in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

What you'll need

• Experience leading architecture at scale (team or organisation size can vary; we care about the complexity and impact of what you've led)
• A solid grasp of modern distributed architectures; containerisation, event-driven systems, and the trade-offs between availability and consistency.
• Ability to set clear architectural direction across a high-traffic, high-change environment as it adjusts to an AI-enabled future.
• Experience managing and developing an architecture or engineering team.
• Strong communication skills, with a track record of working across engineering, product, and senior leadership to align technical and business priorities.
• A track record of building inclusive, collaborative engineering cultures through mentoring, team design and influence.

Nice to have

• An understanding of how to drive architectural change in a DevOps environment that makes over a thousand production changes a month.
• Experience in property, marketplaces, e-commerce, or other high-traffic consumer platforms.

Life at Rightmove

Despite our growth, we’ve remained a friendly, supportive place to work, with employee #1 still working here! We’ve done this by placing the Rightmove Hows at the heart of everything we do. These are the essential values that reflect our culture, and include:

• We create value…by delivering results and building trust with partners and consumers.
• We think bigger…by acting with curiosity and setting bold aspirations.
• We care deeply…by being real, having fun, and valuing diversity.
• We move together…by being one team - internally collaborative, externally competitive.
• We make a difference…by focusing on delivering measurable impact.

We believe in careers that open doors and help our team develop by providing an open and inclusive work environment, offering ongoing training opportunities, and supporting charity fundraising events. And with 89% of Rightmovers saying we’re a great place to work, we’re clearly doing something right!

What we offer

• Cash plan for dental, optical and physio treatments.
• Private Medical Insurance, Pension and Life Insurance, Employee Assistance Plan.
• 27 days holiday plus two (paid) volunteering days a year to give back, and holiday buy schemes.
• Contributory stakeholder pension.
• Life assurance at 4x your basic salary to a spouse, family member or other nominated person in your life.
• Competitive compensation package.
• Paid leave for maternity, paternity, adoption & fertility.
• Travel Loans, Bike to Work scheme, Rental Deposit Loan.
• Charitable contributions through Payroll Giving and donation matching.
• Access deals and discounts on things like travel, electronics, fashion, gym memberships, cinema discounts and more.
• We offer hybrid working with a minimum of 2 days in the office. For our roles, such as Field or Home-based positions, different working arrangements apply - full details will be shared during the recruitment process.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Rightmove will never discriminate based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage / civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity or sexual orientation. At Rightmove, we believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce leads to better innovation, productivity, and overall success. We are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all employees, regardless of their background or identity, to develop and promote a diverse culture that reflects the communities we serve.

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